Man Tries to Grab Cal Hills Student

A student told police she was walking to school on Roswell Drive when a man began to follow her and tried to grab her.

According to police, at about 8:30 a.m., after the student passed the man on the street, he turned around and began to follow her, speaking to her in Spanish. The student then walked faster and called her mother. He began to chase her and ran up from behind to grab her.

The student ran onto the Cal Hills campus, which is on the same site as the school district administrative offices and the adult school. The man took off running northbound on Carnegie Drive.

Police are looking for a physically fit Latino male, 20-30 years old, about 5-foot-8 with short black hair. He was last seen wearing a two-toned blue hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Detectives are actively investigating right now, said Gene Smith, an officer with the Milpitas Police Department. 

Less than two weeks ago, a approached students walking home from school. The men are not the same person, because the descriptions given by the students differ, said Smith. In this case, the man was described as Asian.

"We don't want people in our community to be frightened about it"—but they should be aware—Smith said. 

Children should walk in visible areas where people can help in an emergency, he said.

He advises parents to tell children "not to engage in conversation with people they are not familiar with," and to "leave the area in situations where they feel comfortable."

In addition, if something does happen, children should make as much noise as possible so anyone in the surrounding area can help, he said.

Smith said parents could drive their kids to and from school, keep an eye on the kids as they walk down the street, or have them walk in pairs.